F R A U D S T R A T E G YHertfordshire

2019 - 2022

APPENDIX 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Introduction 4

2 Demographics 6

3 Health and Wellbeing 8

4 Direct Mailing Fraud 9

5 Electronic Communications 9

6 Doorstep Fraud (Rogue Traders) 10

7 Reporting Pathways 11

8 Priority Areas for Hertfordshire 12

9 Delivery 13

Section Page

There are many words used to describe fraud: scam, con, swindle, extortion, sham, double-cross, hoax, cheat, ploy, ruse, hoodwink, confidence trick. Regardless of what word is used, fraud is a criminal activity committed by those acting in a deceitful way. There are many different types of fraud, but all have the same principles; trickery which is used to gain a dishonest advantage, which is often financial, over another person. This trickery could be received by email, letter, and telephone or in person.

There are many different types of fraud but the most common are fake lotteries, deceptive prize draws or sweepstakes, clairvoyants, computer scams, and romance scams. Criminals attempt to trick people with, official looking documents or websites, or convincing telephone sales techniques, with the aim of persuading the victim to send a processing or administration fee, pay postal or insurance costs or make a premium rate phone call. Doorstep frauds are crimes carried out by bogus callers, rogue traders and unscrupulous sales people who call, often uninvited, at people’s homes under the guise of legitimate business or trade1.

The cost of fraud to people of all ages in the UK is estimated at £9 billion a year by the Home Office, with Mass Marketing scams accounting for the majority of fraud, with estimated losses of £3.5 billion a year2. Individual harms include poor health, isolation, poverty and breakdown of family and social relationships.

The fact that some frauds take place in the home makes it difficult to detect and address by a single agency. It requires a whole system approach from all agencies working in the community; for instance, health visitors, GPs, social workers, day centre staff and voluntary and third sector groups, such as befrienders, community meals providers, Age UK and other volunteer provisions, to identify and forward concerns. Multiple trusted sources are needed to warn people of the risks of fraud and how they can protect themselves.

Fraud is an ‘everyday’ crime that affects and harms people across all demographics. Different methods are used to commit fraud and these will affect people in different ways due to their varying levels of vulnerability and also interactions and utilisation of different forms of technologies and communications. We know that a high proportion of mail, phone and doorstep frauds rely on loneliness, vulnerability, social isolation and shame. Initiatives such as Hertfordshire Constabulary’s ‘Senior Watch’ have been set up to help safeguard vulnerable residents. Senior Watch provides information to neighbours and agencies working with older residents via email. The aim is to provide information on current crime and safety risks affecting older residents by using other agencies to pass on advice and be alert to the notification of local criminal activity.

1 Friends against Scams https://www.friendsagainstscams.org.uk/

2 HM Government Serious and Organised Crime Strategy November 2018 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/752850/SOC-2018-web.pdf

INTRODUCTION1

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This strategy will focus on the following frauds committed against residents of Hertfordshire: • Direct mailing scams – Mail, Lottery.• Electronic communications – Telephone, Phishing (email) Scams.• Doorstep Scams – Rogue trader, bogus caller.

It will not include frauds against businesses; this will be addressed in a separate strategy.

In recognising that fraud is an ‘all age’ crime, the Action Plan that sits alongside this strategy will seek to focus on activity that targets different segments of the population as part of a phased approach. Phase 1 will focus on the Elderly and Vulnerable (70+); Phase 2 will focus on Young Adults (18-25 year olds) and Phase 3 Young People (under 18s).

The current fragmented approach enables perpetrators to escape detection or apprehension. The general public is ill informed about the extent and financial cost of fraud, its cost and impact on victims, identifying fraud or potential vulnerability and how to flag or report concerns. It is hoped that Beacon will play a significant role in assisting those who have fallen victim to fraud. Beacon’s main focus is to help victims cope and recover from their experience with crime.

Whilst there are measures that can be implemented nationally, it will take changes to current legislation which could involve lengthy delays in implementation. This strategy has been produced following scrutiny and a review of current practices which considered the damage to lives caused by fraud and the wide range of activity being undertaken across the county to tackle this issue. It has been developed in consultation with a wide range of partners, recognising that to properly address the threat and harm of fraud to the residents of Hertfordshire requires a joined up, multi-agency approach.

The Hertfordshire Scams Intelligence Report 2017 provided the evidence base for this, the first Hertfordshire Fraud Strategy, using data and information from national and local sources. The key findings from this report are:

• The data presented in the report is based on those victims who have reported fraud. National Trading Standards estimate that only 5% of scams are reported.

• A significant amount of the data obtained for this report was not robust enough to profile victims. Reports were inaccurate, had no age recorded or had incorrect addresses.

• Being a victim of a fraud often leads to deterioration in physical health and/or mental health.

• The majority of reported frauds are conducted by offenders using the telephone posing as established companies or organisations.

• There are a number of reporting pathways in Hertfordshire and not all are linked to the Police or Trading Standards; this makes it difficult to establish how or where victims are able to report frauds.

• Feedback is not often provided to victims of fraud by the agencies they have reported to.

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The 2017 mid-year estimate projects the population of Hertfordshire as 1,180,900 which represents an increase of 64,838 since the 2011 census.

Figure 1 shows that the population of Hertfordshire is estimated to change significantly over the next 25 years to 2041. In particular, it is estimated to grow significantly in the number of younger and older people living in the county. Figures 2 and 3 show that the number of 70 to 90+ year olds is set to rise by 25% from 139,148 to 173,405, and the number of 25 year olds by 5% from 357,000 to 375,000. Of all the police force areas in England, Hertfordshire had the fourth largest percentage population change between 2017/18 to 2018/19 in the number of 25 year olds and this trend is expected to continue. (see Figure 4).

Figure 1: Estimated population change in Hertfordshire over the next 25 years to 2041

Figure 2: Expected population growth of over 70 year olds between 2016 and 2026

DEMOGRAPHICS2

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• There are a number of reporting pathways in Hertfordshire and not all are linked to the Police or Trading Standards; this makes it difficult to establish how or where victims are able to report frauds.

• Feedback is not often provided to victims of fraud by the agencies they have reported to.

2 Demographics

The 2017 mid-year estimate projects the population of Hertfordshire as 1,180,900 which represents an increase of 64,838 since the 2011 census.

Figure 1 shows that the population of Hertfordshire is estimated to change significantly over the next 25 years to 2041. In particular, it is estimated to grow significantly in the number of younger and older people living in the county. Figures 2 and 3 show that the number of 70 to 90+ year olds is set to rise by 25% from 139,148 to 173,405, and the number of 25 year olds by 5% from 357,000 to 375,000. Of all the police force areas in England, Hertfordshire had the fourth largest percentage population change between 2017/18 to 2018/19 in the number of 25 year olds and this trend is expected to continue. (see Figure 4).

Figure 1: Estimated population change in Hertfordshire over the next 25 years to 2041

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Figure 2: Expected population growth of over 70 year olds between 2016 and 2026

Source: Office for National Statistics, Statistical Bulletin,2019 Figure 3: Expected population growth of under 25 year olds between 2016 and 2026

Source: Office for National Statistics, Statistical Bulletin, 2019

139000159000

174000

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

Over 70's

Hertfordshire over 70 population

2016 2021 2026

357000

363000

375000

345000

350000

355000

360000

365000

370000

375000

380000

Under 25's

Hertfordshire under 25 population

2016 2021 2026

Figure 3: Expected population growth of under 25 year olds between 2016 and 2026

Figure 4: Percentage Population Change (under 25), 2017/18 to 2018/19 by Police Force in England

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Figure 2: Expected population growth of over 70 year olds between 2016 and 2026

Source: Office for National Statistics, Statistical Bulletin,2019 Figure 3: Expected population growth of under 25 year olds between 2016 and 2026

Source: Office for National Statistics, Statistical Bulletin, 2019

139000159000

174000

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

Over 70's

Hertfordshire over 70 population

2016 2021 2026

357000

363000

375000

345000

350000

355000

360000

365000

370000

375000

380000

Under 25's

Hertfordshire under 25 population

2016 2021 2026

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Figure 4: Percentage Population Change (under 25), 2017/18 to 2018/19 by Police Force in England

3 Health and Wellbeing Academic research has confirmed that older people are more susceptible to becoming victims due to lower levels of cognitive function. We see victims who repeatedly respond to fraud over a number of years and lose huge amounts of money. Nationally the number of older people continues to rise, with over 11.6 million (17.8% of the population) aged 65 and over in mid-20153. By 2050 the number is predicted to reach 20 million4. Furthermore, dementia is a key contributor to reduced levels of cognitive function and the number of people with dementia in the UK is forecast to increase from 815,827 to 1,142,677 by 2025, an increase of 40%5.

Loneliness There is strong evidence that loneliness is linked with deterioration in health. Around a million (10%) older people are termed ‘chronically lonely’ at any given time in the UK which will seriously increase their risk of suffering mental and physical illness6. Loneliness also puts individuals at greater risk of cognitive decline7, which is a key factor that contributes to becoming a victim of fraud. Furthermore, victims of fraud who are lonely may engage with a criminal more readily than other people because of their need for human interaction.

3 Office for National Statistics, Statistical Bulletin June 2016 4 Office of National Statistics age profiling 5 Dementia UK Second Edition 2014, The Alzheimer’s Society 6 Promising approaches to reducing loneliness and isolation in later life, January 2015, Age UK 7 James et al, 2011

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Academic research has confirmed that older people are more susceptible to becoming victims due to lower levels of cognitive function. We see victims who repeatedly respond to fraud over a number of years and lose huge amounts of money.

Nationally the number of older people continues to rise, with over 11.6 million (17.8% of the population) aged 65 and over in mid-20153. By 2050 the number is predicted to reach 20 million4. Furthermore, dementia is a key contributor to reduced levels of cognitive function and the number of people with dementia in the UK is forecast to increase from 815,827 to 1,142,677 by 2025, an increase of 40%5.

LonelinessThere is strong evidence that loneliness is linked with deterioration in health. Around a million (10%) older people are termed ‘chronically lonely’ at any given time in the UK which will seriously increase their risk of suffering mental and physical illness6.

Loneliness also puts individuals at greater risk of cognitive decline7, which is a key factor that contributes to becoming a victim of fraud. Furthermore, victims of fraud who are lonely may engage with a criminal more readily than other people because of their need for human interaction.

Impact of FraudA National Trading Standards Doorstep Crime Project was completed in 2014/15 and its report included a victim impact survey which highlighted four significant facts in relation to health harms8:

• On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst effect, 50% rated the effect of the crime on them as between 6 and 10.

• 23% said it had affected their health.• 38% said it had resulted in them having reduced confidence generally.• 26% said it had left them feeling down or depressed.

Age UK undertook research looking at the fear of crime on the elderly9. They admit that it is difficult to establish whether fear of crime is a cause of poor health or whether they are linked through more complex two-way relationships. For example, fear of crime may increase the risk of depression, but depression itself may heighten susceptibility to fear. However, they conclude that the analysis does indicate that fear of crime contributes to poor health.

3 Office for National Statistics, Statistical Bulletin June 2016

4 Office of National Statistics age profiling

5 Dementia UK Second Edition 2014, The Alzheimer’s Society

HEALTH AND WELLBEING 3

Many of us would rather not receive unsolicited telephone calls, whether from genuine business or fraudsters. There are ways to reduce the number of sales and marketing calls, one of which is via a free register provided by the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). The following are common types of electronic communication frauds:

• Bank / Building Society scams• Debt Recovery Scams• PPI Scams• Spam Texts• ‘Stranded traveller’ e-mails • Fake Banking Websites• Hoax virus warnings• Get Rich Quick and Work from Home Schemes• “Advance fee” fraud• Chain e-mails• Hoax Charity Appeals• “Phishing” E-mails• E-mails with damaging attachments/links

Mail fraud makes fraudulent claims to try to part victims from their money. The following are common types of mail fraud:

• Lotteries / Prize Draws• Psychics and Clairvoyants • Pyramid Schemes• Scam Mail• Bank / Building Society Scams• Parcel Delivery Scam

6 Promising approaches to reducing loneliness and isolation in later life, January 2015, Age UK

7 James et al, 2011

8 National Trading Standards Doorstep Crime Project Report 2014/15, March 2015

9 Age UK Study “Fear of crime and its effect on older people” 2014 Peter Lloyd-Sherlock and Sutapa Agrawal 9

DIRECT MAILING FRAUD 4

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS 5

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Bogus tradesmen, door-to-door sales or doorstep fraud involves fraudsters trying to scam potential victims after knocking at the door or leaflet dropping promotional material advertising trades, using false addresses.

They may claim to be working in the area and that they’ve noticed a problem with the property, or create a sense of urgency by saying the situation is dangerous and repairs are needed immediately.

Buying on your doorstep can be convenient. However, a salesperson who uses clever tactics can pressurise you into buying something that you actually don’t want or something that’s poor value for money.

Door-to-door frauds can take many forms, including:

• pressure selling• unfair contracts• overpriced or substandard home maintenance or improvements• phony consumer surveys• bogus charity collections• Falsely represent a professional (utility companies, member of the local council,

or even emergency services etc.)

Such frauds involve promoting goods or services that are either never delivered to you or are of a very poor quality. Fraudsters may also bill you for work that you didn’t agree to. Repeat victimisation and ‘bouncing the job’ where costs are increased as the ‘work’ progresses are common.

There are specific laws about door-to-door sales. Many are required to give you a ‘cooling-off’ period (where you can change your mind or request your money back). Bogus tradesmen will offer none of these, and even if they do, these guarantees are unlikely to be honoured. Bogus salespeople will provide false identity or contact information, making it impossible for you to identify or contact them. If you’ve paid them in advance, you won’t get your money back.

DOORSTEP FRAUD (ROGUE TRADERS)6

There are currently a number of pathways in which the victim or partner agencies can report scams (Figure 5 below). As shown, reporting pathways can be very confusing for the victim and these are just a few of the main methods that we know about and this does not include third party reporting from victims’ families/friends or agencies. A number of other organisations may also collate information on scams. This highlights that we have a need to simplify the method of reporting for the victim families/friends or agencies.

When reviewing the Action Fraud reports a number of victims wanted feedback based on the information that they supplied. Action Fraud is unable to provide this as they do not investigate any reports10.

Organisation Reporting provision Area

Action Fraud Telephone, online Most frauds/scams

Banksafeonline (UKPayments)

Online via email E-banking scams

Financial institutions Telephone in personIdentity, plastic and cheque fraud etc

CIFAS Online, telephone or e-mail Identity fraud

Carers in Herts In person, telephone, online Advice on scams

Citizens Advice Bureau Telephone and onlineGeneral consumer issues, fraud

Crimestoppers Telephone and onlineAll crimes including, general fraud

Equifax Email, online and telephone Identity fraud

Experian Email, online and telephone Identity fraud

Financial Services Authority Telephone and online Financial fraud

Hertfordshire Constabulary In person, telephone, online Most frauds

Hertfordshire Age UK In person, telephone, online Advice on scams

Local Authority Trading Standards

For most in person, letter, e-mail, online

Trading fraud/scams

OFT Telephone, email and post Mass marketing fraud

Serious Fraud OfficeTelephone and online(diverts to MPS too)

Serious fraud meeting its criteria(£1m loss, international, public concern, complex, need for special powers of SFO)

REPORTING PATHWAYS 7

1110 https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/what-is-action-fraud

Figure 5 - The below chart shows some of the organisations victims contact when trying to report a fraud.

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Fraud is visible across all sections of society and requires a wide-ranging approach in order to reach the groups that are affected by it, and to engage and tackle those who perpetrate it.

Based on the available evidence and from the research from the Hertfordshire Scams Intelligence Report 2017, the approach to tackling scams in Hertfordshire can be generally categorised under three ‘Priority Areas’:

1. PreventionThis includes such activity as raising awareness of what fraud is (and how to identify it) and includes target groups such as the general public, the professional workforce and partner organisations. Each organisation must ensure that every contact counts to reinforce the awareness message.

2. ProtectionThis includes such activity as supporting the victim to cope and recover, putting them at the heart of justice, reducing repeat victimisation and improving confidence. This will include further provision of an enhanced victim service delivered by case managers, with an overall aim of improving victim experience, satisfaction and ongoing wellbeing.

3. PursueWhere possible we will work with all agencies to enforce the law and prosecute those responsible for fraud.

Priority One: Prevention

It is widely understood that preventing fraud from taking place is the ideal response to any fraud type; it is also amongst the most difficult aspect of crime reduction to measure and evaluate. Nonetheless, agencies must do all that they can to raise awareness of what fraud is and seek to prevent it from taking place.

Awareness• We will seek to raise awareness of fraud through campaigns which aim to

highlight “what fraud is” and which provide details on how to spot and protect victims from potential fraud. This will include both broad-reach and targeted campaigns bespoke to different victims and targets, via traditional and social media channels, including greater levels of co-production with communities and stakeholders.

Education• This may include providing education and training to front line staff,

stakeholders and partners as well as upskilling the current workforces to identify and promote fraud awareness. It includes providing the relevant training to ensure that the workforce, general public, stakeholders and partners have the skills and knowledge to advise and support victims.

PRIORITY AREAS FOR HERTFORDSHIRE8

Priority Two: Protection

Effective support is vital to ensure that victims are able to cope and recover from their experiences, and have confidence in agencies and the wider system. Victims often feel that there is no point in reporting fraud (National Trading Standards report that only 5% of victims report the crime) as they believe, at best, that no effective action will be taken and, at worst, that scams are simply a part of life and that they shouldn’t have “fallen for it” which may result in feelings of shame or embarrassment. Many residents do not even know that they have been a victim, particularly those who are victims of direct mailing fraud.

Victims have stated that there is a lack of understanding of how and who to report fraud to in the first instance.

Reporting• We will seek to promote a consistent message and aspire to develop a single

point of contact of how and where to report fraud in Hertfordshire.• We will seek to improve the sharing of information with other agencies to ensure

potential victims can be given the help and support they need.

Victim Services• We will seek to increase the number of victims making use of enhanced

services including an increase in referrals to the Beacon victim services in order to provide a dedicated and structured support to scams victims and to help provide more data and insight into the practicalities of scams to help combat them.

Priority Three: Pursue

Victims often feel that there is no point in reporting fraud as they believe, at best, that no effective action will be taken against the perpetrators. Agencies must work together to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice and that intelligence is shared to ensure that potential future fraud types are thwarted.

Intelligence• We will seek to gain a detailed picture of the perpetrators of fraud in

Hertfordshire to develop intelligence led products and processes to identify victims and perpetrators.

Enforce • Disrupt operations of perpetrators of fraud including organised criminal gangs

through effective partnership working and information sharing.• Enforcement agencies will robustly enforce the law and prosecute perpetrators

of fraud.

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DELIVERYThe delivery of this strategy will be monitored and reviewed by the Hertfordshire Scams Strategy Steering Group. SMART objectives will be produced against each of the priority areas: Prevention, Protection and Pursue and key milestones identified for delivery of the strategy.

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